PHIL SHERWIN , from Burslem: “This was easily the best performance of the season. I was thinking that in the first half because that was by far and away the best we had played, but the difference was we carried that on into the second half.

“We had a bit of a wobble when Cheltenham had a good spell at start of the second half but we came back and were well worth the 3-1 win. In fact, Cheltenham’s late goal flattered them.

“Tom Pope played very well, David Worrall made a difference and Ben Whitfield was outstanding, he would have been my man of the match.

“I would go as far as to say that we will not be in the bottom two all season having seen that performance. Yes, I realise I could look stupid on Tuesday night at Morecambe!

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ANDREW BLAKEMORE , from Denford: “Well it took over six months but we finally got that elusive home victory and it was thoroughly deserved over the course of 90 minutes.

“In the first half we struggled to cope at times with an impressive looking Cheltenham team, then we got the customary first half Vale goal. We looked to dominate proceedings as shades of Neil Aspin were evident in this Vale team, evidenced by a superb no nonsense tackle from Tyler Denton before the break.

“Today there was no taking Ben Whitfield off early because his Opta stats suggested he should be, as per the previous regime. This was a gutsy Vale performance and one that we haven't seen for a good while.

“The second goal deservedly came after some good attack play and at that point it surely had to be our day.

“Then to cap it off, Tom Pope, who earned his Man of the Match award (even though it was difficult with several contenders), scored a goal reminiscent of Wimbledon away in 2013, the tightest of angles to seal the points.

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“It was that simple today, Feed the Pope and he WILL score. Credit to the entire 11, with performances like this, we will get away from the bottom of this league.”

Tom Pope celebrates his opening goal against Cheltenham

ROB RHEAD , from May Bank: “Who would have thought after the opening day league win at Crawley that it would take until the eve of the FA Cup 1st round to get another?

“At half time it felt a bit like last week where we had shaded a decent first half but the worry was that an early Cheltenham equaliser could have shaken our confidence. The visitors came at us from the restart and we defended deeper and deeper leaving Tom Pope isolated so it was a brave move by Neil Aspin to bring Tyrone Barnett on after 15 minutes to support him and bring the play further up the pitch.

"His bravery was rewarded as Barnett was involved in the second goal almost immediately when my man of the match Ben Whitfield was rewarded for his persistence. It was a pity we couldn't keep a clean sheet but I was glad the goal came so late on as you could feel a nervousness creep into both the players and supporters.”